And now for something completely different ;)

Some days ago I was completely captivated by Nina Simone's live performance in 1965, seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sdtap2qU8Zk
Spontaneously the idea came up to melt her incomparable voice with some contemporary beats. I never did something like that before and it was big fun to drift away in this kind of music. 

Hope you like it: 
"Nina Simone  - a very warm welcome to the program"

• The Ballad of Hollis Brown

Hollis Brown
He lived on the outside of town
Hollis Brown
He lived on the outside of town
With his wife and five children
And his cabin brokin' down.

He looked for work and money
And walked a rugged mile
He looked for work and money
Walked a rugged mile
His children are so hungry
Don't know how to smile.

Rats have got your flour
Bad blood it got your mare
Rats have got your flour
Bad blood it got your mare
Is there anyone who knows?
Is there anyone who cares?

So you prayed to the Lord above
Please send you a friend
You prayed to the Lord above
Oh please send you a friend
But your empty pockets tell you
That you ain't a-got no friend.

Grass is turning black
There's no water in your well
Grass is turning black
There's no water in your well
Your spent your last lone dollar
On a seven shotgun shels.

Your baby's eyes look crazy
To a-tuggin' at your sleeve
Your baby's eyes look crazy
To a-tuggin' at your sleeve
Is there anyone who knows?
Is there anyone who cares?

Seven shots ring out
Like the ocean's pounding roar
There's seven people dead
On a south Dakota farm.

Somewhere in the distance
Seven new people born.

---

Music & original lyrics - Bob Dylan (1964)
Textual adaption & vocals - Nina Simone (1965)
Introductional speaker - Tim Sebastian (BBC's Hard Talk, 1999)
Additionals, arrangement & delight - bitzone (2014)

1964

Nina Simone - The Ballad Of Hollis Brown (Yeah Yeah Mix)

The Chicken - New York Jazz Lounge

Club Des Belugas - Swop (album Snippets).MP3

Instrumental arrangements made with my workstation ROLAND FA08.

Are You Going With Me (Pat Metheny Group cover)

Iggy Pop "Nightclubbing" (Daisy O'Dell Version)

Mercan Dede - Aziz (Audio Boutique Mix)

Turkish edits, Arabic beats, Indian vibes and Jeremy Irons. 
Artwork by Ayham Jabr: http://ayhamjabr.tumblr.com/

TRACKLIST
Cal Tjader - The Fakir
Orchester Kurt Edelhagen - Persian Mood (Black Pearl Edel Edit)
Mazhar Ve Fuat - Adimiz Miskindir Bizim (Mark Wayward Edit) 
IPEK KÖÇMAN - Canli Canli (Sygaire Edit)
The Advancement - Moorish Mood
Ziad Rahbani - Abu Ali
Amon Düül 2 - Kismet (Mark Wayward Edit)
Senay - Doy Doy Doyamadim (Mark Wayward Edit)
Rosebud - Main Theme from More
Richard Schneider Jr. - Visions
Nick Ayoub Jazz Quintet - Desert Boots
Egisto Macchi - Cammelli 
Jan Jankeje - South Indian Line
Amancio D'Silva - What Maria Sees
Sabu Martinez - Ghandi's Candies (Edit)
Marc Moulin - Tohubohu Part I
Sun Ra - India
Fred Stone - Theme from "Lawrence of Arabia"
Les McCann and the Jazz Crusaders - Damascus
Yusef Lateef - Passacaglia
The Intentions - Blowing with the Wind
Catalyst - Suite for Albeniz (Edit)



The Desert is a Circle

SALLY SHAPIRO Let It Show (low motion disco's rondo veneziano remix)

"Love Shock" - Albert King (vinyl)

Erik Truffaz Quartet - Siegfried

Get the album here: http://glitterbeat.com/glitterbeat_store/

'Troubles' is the new album from Dirtmusic - Chris Eckman (The Walkabouts) and Hugo Race (Fatalists/True Spirit/Bad Seeds) - recorded in Bamako, Mali, in September 2012 during the high-tension and tragic recent crisis - hence the name, 'Troubles'.

Originally a trio with Chris Brokaw (Come/Codeine), Dirtmusic released their eponymous debut in 2007, a gritty collection of acoustic ballads drawn from their American and Australian frontier roots. The band's explorations of raw, psych-folk-rock then took a radical detour out to the Saharan desert, to Timbuktu, performing at the legendary Festival-au-Desert.

Dirtmusic's encounter at the Festival-au-Desert with the Tuareg band Tamikrest was the catalyst for the second album, BKO (2010), a classic, one-of-a-kind trip through the interzone between 'western' and Tamasheq desert rock. The two bands toured Europe extensively and the album received major shout outs from both the rock/pop and "world" music press:

"BKO is a collection of dusty, yearning songs growled out over a nicely fused acoustic/electric mix... The atmosphere is infectious" - Uncut

"A different take on African rock... it's not Africa subsumed by the west but a genuine, equal meeting" - Froots

With the departure of Chris Brokaw, Race and Eckman decided to head further 'upriver', composing and recording an album from scratch in full collaboration with a select crew of Malian artists. Dirtmusic arrived in the Malian capital of Bamako with notebooks of lyrics, but without written songs or preconceived strategies. Drawing on musicians from the Ben Zabo and Samba Toure bands as a core rhythm section, Race and Eckman produced the sessions on the dance floor of Salif Keita's Moffou Club, inviting in guest vocalists including not only Ben Zabo and Samba Toure, but also Virginie Dembele (from the Rokia Traore ensemble), rising star Aminata Wassidje Traore and soku-master Zoumana Tereta.

There are many voices telling stories on 'Troubles', singing in Songhai, Bambara, Tamasheq and English, stories of war and peace and love and doubt in the shadow of an oncoming storm, and like a musical version of cinema verite, everything is real, in-the-moment and utterly direct. Inspired by the collision between West African rhythms, digital sorcery and rock'n'roll, Troubles is a singular and border-slicing musical journey. And Troubles is only the first release from the sessions, with a second volume in the pipeline for a release on Glitterbeat in early 2014.

http://www.glitterbeat.com/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dirtmus...
http://twitter.com/DirtmusicBKO
http://www.facebook.com/Glitterbeat
http://twitter.com/Glitterbeat_Rec

Dirtmusic - La Paix

Don't know about anyone else but I'm getting more disillusioned with SoundCloud with every change they make. The new algorithm and its 'recommendations' ignore mixes and any tracks over 10 mins, they've removed the New & Hot charts and replaced them with irrelevant crap like "Events near you", and this new UI has me searching for a way to revert it. 

Banner: Roy Ayers mural in Brockley, SE London by Richard Wilson: www.richardwilsonartwork.com